Graduation is typically a wild time on any campus, but several University of Central Florida students on Reddit urged their fellow revelers not to invite single-use plastic confetti to the party — and they had a no-cost alternative for their classmates' confetti-related needs.
It started with a video — silent, save for the sounds of local fauna — shared to a university-related subreddit, r/ucf.
In the nearly two-minute clip, the OP strolls along a boardwalk, documenting the extent to which graduation-related confetti has littered the otherwise pristine and peaceful area and broader landscape.
Alongside the video, the OP implored fellow UCF students who use plastic confetti to "please clean it up."
The OP's concerns went beyond how students dispose of plastic confetti; they also addressed where the pervasive litter could end up — in adjacent wetlands, where it poses a deadly threat to wildlife.
Others have pleaded for people to stop leaving the litter, along with balloons, another common celebration decoration, in parks and outdoor spaces. Wildlife can confuse it with food, and once ingested, it can cause severe harm and even death.
It also impacts soil health and groundwater and breaks down into microplastics that can end up in the food humans eat.
According to commenters, plastic confetti refuse isn't a new problem on campus.
"This gets brought up every semester and no one listens," the most upvoted commenter lamented. That user blamed a specific style of graduation photo for the purportedly recurring problem, adding, "Sorority girls gonna pay $500 for their out of focus confetti pics no matter what."
Another user observed that "plastic confetti seems like something that should just be banned at this point," noting that "paper confetti works just as well and is biodegradable."
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Yes 💯 Others proposed ways to reduce or end the rampant use of non-biodegradable confetti on campus, from photoshopping graduation photos to imposing a fine.
One user's patience for the behavior had run out. "If you do this you don't deserve your degree," they remarked. "Clearly didn't learn how to be a responsible adult and community member."
The OP offered a simple solution to the plastic confetti problem in a comment, saying, "UCF does offer biodegradable confetti, it's the little paper sprinkles you see in a few frames." They explained that paper confetti was likely to "harmlessly dissolve when it rains," deeming it "the best choice if you don't want any cleanup."
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